The Archaeology of Religion: An Introduction



Overview

The course explores religious practices, beliefs, and rituals through various examples from around the world and across time. We will begin by questioning the meaning of the term 'religion' when applied to the deep human past, challenging the notion that religion is a specific and ‘unique’ human behaviour by considering its relation with the kinds of ‘symbolic behaviour’ observed in modern primates, Neanderthal and modern humans. With this theoretical basis established, we explore prehistoric religions, shamanism, fertility, death, and sacred landscapes, such as the one Stonehenge occupies. Finally, we will explore the perhaps more familiar major religions of the Classical world with the emergence and changing of the complex pantheon and monumental religious structures of the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Romans, both at the centre of the Empire and the distant peripheries of the East and West.

This course provides students with the tools to understand the problems of defining and theorizing religion, the methodologies, and theories of the archaeology of ancient religions while looking to current and future research directions on the subject.

Programme details

Courses starts: 29 Sep 2023

Week 1: Introduction to the study of ritual and religion (Francesca Mazzilli)

Week 2: The evolution of religion, including Mortuary and Domestic rituals (Francesca Fulminante)

Week 3: Totemism, animism, and shamanism (Francesca Fulminante)

Week 4: Fertility and Ancestors cults (Francesca Fulminante)

Week 5: Ritual and religion at Stonehenge (Francesca Fulminante)

Week 6: Greek Religion (Francesca Mazzilli)

Week 7: Etruscan Religion (Francesca Fulminante)

Week 8: Religion in Roman Italy (Francesca Mazzilli)

Week 9: Religion in the Provinces: East and West (Francesca Mazzilli)

Week 10: Museum trip (Francesca Mazzilli)

Certification

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £257.00
Take this course for CATS points £10.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutors

Dr Francesca Fulminante

After a Cambridge PhD (2008) and excellent post-doctoral positions across Europe, Francesca Fulminante is now Senior Researcher and Lecturer both in the UK and Italy. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, excavations and museum work, her research investigates the development of complex societies in Rome and the Mediterranean during the first Millennium BC, as well as more intimate topics such as infancy and gender.

Dr Francesca Mazzilli

I have been teaching Classical Archaeology at Royal Holloway University of London, the University of Durham, the University of Bergen, where I undertook a MSCA fellowship, and at the University of Münster, where I am currently a WiRe fellow. 

Course aims

  • To investigate the multifarious aspects of religious life in the ancient past.
  • To show how by using appropriately a combination of archaeological, written, and visual sources it is possible to form a source-critical approach to past religious belief systems.
  • To contextualise material sources depending on the location and historical contexts.

Course objectives:

  • To gain appropriate and critical knowledge of the workings of religion in the ancient past and of relevant modern theories concerning ancient religious practice.
  • To gain familiarity and the ability to evaluate and use critically a combination of different source materials (archaeological remains, iconography, literary texts, inscriptions) and the terminology involved.
  • To gain an understanding of place and function of religion in the past societies and its development depending on the location and historical contexts.

Teaching methods

The module is taught through a series of 10 lectures accompanied by 10 seminars for a total of 20 hours of teaching sessions. Students will be required to undertake set readings, complete pre-class activities and make (non-examined) short presentations of case study material in order to be able to actively participate in the discussion. The seminars will focus upon themes that the lectures cover more widely, and seminar discussions will be structured around at least two (or more) presentations from students for each session (depending on the number of students on the module). It is essential that those not making a presentation for a specific seminar session will nonetheless read the material assigned for at least one presentation and be prepared to engage fully in the discussion. Seminar presentations are not assessed but are compulsory (Alternative arrangements for presentations, in private etc., will be made if necessary).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  • identify the major religious developments and ritual practices from prehistory to the Roman period
  • develop an understanding of how evidence from objects, anthropological comparisons and texts inform our view of past belief systems.
  • develop a critical knowledge of the possibilities and limitations archaeological analytical techniques for understanding of belief systems.

Assessment methods

The module is assessed by means of two essays: a short, formative piece of 500 words, followed by a summative assessment of 1,500 words, the latter comprising 100% of the final grade (Option B). There is no examination element to the module.

It will also be an opportunity for students to be assessed through the submission of a portfolio of work equivalent to 1500 words (Option A).

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support